10,000 traffic offenders given warning only

Almost 10,000 motorists have escaped court appearances or fines since the introduction of traffic warnings this year.

A total of 9609 Auckland drivers have received formal written warnings since March under a scheme where police officers can use discretion for low-level traffic offences.

If the maximum fine had been handed to all offenders, it could have raked in more than $2.3 million.

Superintendent Bill Searle said warnings could not be issued for drink or drug driving, driving while disqualified or boy racing.

The project, introduced just two weeks before the give-way rule changed, aimed to reduce the number of minor cases clogging courtrooms.

It was trialled in the wider Auckland region, including the North Shore, Waitakere and Counties Manukau.

Figures obtained under the Official Information Act revealed Waitemata had the highest number of offending drivers with 4672 warnings issued followed by Counties Manukau with 3169 warnings. Auckland had the lowest with 1768 warnings issued.

The worst offenders were drivers who exceeded 50km/h, passengers who didn't wear seatbelts and careless drivers.

Other offences included using a mobile phone while driving, unrestrained young children, no warrant of fitness, failing to comply with traffic signals and making a prohibited right or left-hand turn.

Searle said police were still compiling figures on warnings issued around new give-way rules.